Convert centiliters to liters
One centilitre is 0.01 litre, so you divide the number of centilitres by 100. Type a value and the result appears straight away. A bottle labelled 75 cl holds 0.75 l, a 70 cl bottle holds 0.7 l, and 100 cl is exactly one litre. A centilitre also equals 10 millilitres.
What is a centiliter?
A centilitre is one hundredth of a litre. The name comes from the SI prefix centi, which stands for 10⁻² and has the symbol c.[1] Written in front of the litre symbol, it gives the abbreviation cl.
The litre itself is a cubic decimetre, the volume of a cube with 10 cm sides.[2] One hundred centilitres make up exactly that volume.
In everyday use, centilitres mark the capacity of drinking glasses and small bottles, while in the United States NIST recommends the millilitre or the litre over the centilitre.[2]
How many liters is a centiliter?
A centilitre is exactly 0.01 litre. A litre divides into 100 centilitres, so one centilitre is a hundredth of it, and 100 centilitres make up a whole litre again. The conversion is always exact.
Label sizes follow from this. A bottle marked 75 cl holds 0.75 litre, the same volume as the 750 mL size on the US list of standard fills for spirits.[3] A 37.5 cl bottle holds 0.375 litre. A 70 cl bottle holds 0.7 litre.
Millilitres fit into the same relationship. A litre is 1,000 millilitres and 100 centilitres at once, so one centilitre equals 10 millilitres. To turn centilitres into millilitres, you multiply by ten, and this works for small pours too: 2 cl is 20 millilitres.
The conversion is the same for water, wine and oil, because the centilitre is a metric unit with a single value worldwide.
How do you convert centiliters to liters?
The formula has one step: litres = centilitres ÷ 100. Dividing by 100 moves the decimal point two places to the left.
That turns 250 cl into 2.5 litres. For smaller numbers you fill the empty places with zeros, so 6 cl becomes 0.06 litre.
The field above shows the result to six decimal places as soon as you type, which helps when you have a whole list of sizes to convert.
If your volume is in litres and you need centilitres, use the liters to centiliters converter. Millilitres from the same label go into the milliliters to liters converter.
Centiliters to liters conversion table
| Centilitres | Litres | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cl | 0.01 l | 10 ml |
| 2 cl | 0.02 l | 20 ml |
| 4 cl | 0.04 l | 40 ml |
| 5 cl | 0.05 l | 50 ml |
| 6 cl | 0.06 l | 60 ml |
| 8 cl | 0.08 l | 80 ml |
| 10 cl | 0.1 l | 100 ml |
| 20 cl | 0.2 l | 200 ml |
| 25 cl | 0.25 l | 250 ml |
| 30 cl | 0.3 l | 300 ml |
| 33 cl | 0.33 l | 330 ml |
| 35 cl | 0.35 l | 350 ml |
| 37.5 cl | 0.375 l | 375 ml |
| 40 cl | 0.4 l | 400 ml |
| 45 cl | 0.45 l | 450 ml |
| 50 cl | 0.5 l | 500 ml |
| 60 cl | 0.6 l | 600 ml |
| 70 cl | 0.7 l | 700 ml |
| 75 cl | 0.75 l | 750 ml |
| 80 cl | 0.8 l | 800 ml |
| 100 cl | 1 l | 1,000 ml |
| 150 cl | 1.5 l | 1,500 ml |
| 200 cl | 2 l | 2,000 ml |
| 250 cl | 2.5 l | 2,500 ml |
| 300 cl | 3 l | 3,000 ml |
| 400 cl | 4 l | 4,000 ml |
| 450 cl | 4.5 l | 4,500 ml |
| 500 cl | 5 l | 5,000 ml |
| 600 cl | 6 l | 6,000 ml |
| 800 cl | 8 l | 8,000 ml |
| 900 cl | 9 l | 9,000 ml |
| 1,000 cl | 10 l | 10,000 ml |
| 5,000 cl | 50 l | 50,000 ml |
How many centiliters are the US standard bottle sizes?
| US size | Centilitres | Litres |
|---|---|---|
| 50 mL | 5 cl | 0.05 l |
| 100 mL | 10 cl | 0.1 l |
| 187 mL | 18.7 cl | 0.187 l |
| 200 mL | 20 cl | 0.2 l |
| 250 mL | 25 cl | 0.25 l |
| 331 mL | 33.1 cl | 0.331 l |
| 350 mL | 35 cl | 0.35 l |
| 355 mL | 35.5 cl | 0.355 l |
| 375 mL | 37.5 cl | 0.375 l |
| 475 mL | 47.5 cl | 0.475 l |
| 500 mL | 50 cl | 0.5 l |
| 570 mL | 57 cl | 0.57 l |
| 700 mL | 70 cl | 0.7 l |
| 710 mL | 71 cl | 0.71 l |
| 720 mL | 72 cl | 0.72 l |
| 750 mL | 75 cl | 0.75 l |
| 900 mL | 90 cl | 0.9 l |
| 945 mL | 94.5 cl | 0.945 l |
| 1 L | 100 cl | 1 l |
| 1.5 L | 150 cl | 1.5 l |
| 1.75 L | 175 cl | 1.75 l |
| 1.8 L | 180 cl | 1.8 l |
| 2 L | 200 cl | 2 l |
| 3 L | 300 cl | 3 l |
| 3.75 L | 375 cl | 3.75 l |
How many centiliters are the other metric units?
| Unit | In centilitres | In litres |
|---|---|---|
| Millilitre (ml) | 0.1 cl | 0.001 l |
| Centilitre (cl) | 1 cl | 0.01 l |
| Decilitre (dl) | 10 cl | 0.1 l |
| Litre (l) | 100 cl | 1 l |
| Decalitre (dal) | 1,000 cl | 10 l |
| Hectolitre (hl) | 10,000 cl | 100 l |
Which number formats does this converter accept?
| What you type | What the converter shows | How we read it |
|---|---|---|
| 75 | 0.75 l | A number on its own is read as centilitres, because that is the unit on the field. |
| 75cl | 0.75 l | The cl symbol pasted with the number, with or without a space, is skipped, and so is the word centilitres. |
| 37.5 | 0.375 l | The decimal point separates the fraction, exactly as you would expect. |
| 37,5 | 0.375 l | A comma followed by one digit can only be a decimal comma, so we read it as thirty-seven and a half. |
| 1,500 | 15 l | A comma before three digits groups thousands in English, so this is fifteen hundred centilitres. A note under the field shows the other possible reading, 1.5. |
| 1.500 | 0.015 l | A single point is always read as a decimal point, so the field counts one and a half centilitres. A note under the field shows the other possible reading, 1500. |
| 1 500 | 15 l | A space between the thousands, as written in much of Europe and in SI style, gives the same result as 1,500. |
| 1/2 | 0.005 l | We work out a fraction with a slash for you, so half a centilitre needs no conversion to 0.5 first. |
| 2½ | 0.025 l | A ½ sign copied from a label or a recipe is added to the number in front of it. |
| 750 mL | 0.75 l | Millilitres from a US label are converted to centilitres: the field enters 75 and says so in a line under it. |
Convert other units to Litres
Convert Centilitres to other units
Sources
- Metric (SI) prefixes — National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Litre — Wikipedia
- 27 CFR § 5.203 — Standards of fill (container sizes) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Article 23 — Net quantity — legislation.gov.uk
- CONVERT function — Microsoft
Every figure in the tables was computed from the unit definitions and checked arithmetically before publication. Historical values and the names of local units come from the sources listed above.
Content last reviewed: · written and checked by the Arteon team
Frequently asked questions about centiliters and liters
How many liters is 1 cl?
One centilitre is 0.01 litre, or 10 millilitres. In decimal form, the 1 sits in the second place after the point.
Is 70 cl the same as 700 ml?
Yes. 70 cl and 700 ml describe the same volume, 0.7 litre. The US list of standard fills for spirits includes this size as 700 mL.[3]
How many liters is 0.5 cl?
0.5 cl is 0.005 litre, or 5 millilitres. Values below one centilitre have at least three decimal places, and the converter shows up to six.
How many liters is 18.5 cl?
18.5 cl is 0.185 litre, or 185 millilitres. The result has three decimal places because the volume includes half a centilitre.
Why does one label say 75 cl and another 750 ml?
Both describe the same volume. The food information rules that apply in the UK list litres, centilitres and millilitres as the units for the net quantity of a liquid, so a producer can use any of the three.[4]
How many cubic centimeters is a centiliter?
A centilitre is 10 cubic centimetres. A litre equals one cubic decimetre, or 1,000 cm³, and a hundredth of that volume is 10 cm³.[2]
Should you write cl or cL?
Both are correct. The CGPM adopted the uppercase L as an alternative litre symbol in 1979 and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology recommends it, so US texts may write cL. In the UK and the rest of Europe, the lowercase l is used with prefixes, as in cl.[2]
How do you convert centiliters to liters in Excel?
Type =CONVERT(A1,"cl","l"). The centilitre symbol combines the prefix c with the litre symbol l, and unit names are case-sensitive.[5] The four steps for a whole column are on the liters to centiliters converter page.
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